HEALTH NOTES

MERCURY IN VACCINE’S

A FOLLOW UP SERIES

PART II

Understanding that mercury is a heavy metal and a known neurotoxin or a toxic substance to the nerves in your body. A letter produced by two organizations, “Unlocking Autism,” and the “National Vaccine Information Center” (NVIC) which was sent diretly to President Bush states, “We are asking you to listen and see the suffering of our children and order the drug companies to remove all mercury from the vaccines. . . . The FDA has refused to get the job done . . .Parents all across America are praying that you, our president, will protect our children and the unborn from harm.”

In reading that statement, the frustration of these parents shows through all too clearly. As I stated previously, mercury is a known neurotoxin. It has been proven to cause brain damage in both children and adults who are exposed to it. The Environmental Protection Agency has guidelines for mercury contamination and limiting the population’s exposure, specifically, air and water borne, as well as food contaminated with mercury. Obviously, the one we think of most often in the food supply is tuna.

Actually, in 1999 the EPA and the FDA recommended vaccine manufacturers remove mercury from childhood vaccines; however, no deadline was set for this to occur. Therefore, most vaccines given to children still contain small quantities of mercury; however, flu vaccines contain significant amounts of mercury.

The amount of mercury injected into infants and children is alarming. If we look at statistics from 1980, a ten pound, two month old infant given the CDC recommended Hall cell DPT would have received 55 times the EPA limited daily mercury exposure. In 1995, a ten pound, two month old infant who got the DPT and the HIB vaccine could have been 110 times over the EPA limit for mercury exposure. By 2005, the 25 pound six month old who gets DTaP, HIB, IPV, neumococcal and flu vaccines, could be 22 times over the EPA limit, while a 125 pound teenager or adult receiving flu and meningococcal vaccines could be 4 times over the EPA limit for single mercury exposure. This is dependent upon the vaccine manufacturers and the specific vaccines being utilized.

For those of you who may be interested in checking a vaccine’s mercury content, the NVIC has a method to check mercury content in vaccines. They have what they call a Mercury Calculator on their website. You can go to the website and determine from vaccines that may be utilized in your children or yourself what the mercury load that you might be receiving. The website is www.nvic.org. Next week I will discuss some of the politics of this issue. I thank you again for enjoying my articles. Please take a moment to visit my web site www.upchiropractic.com.